Change dispensing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for accepting a piece of paper currency, performing a validating operation on the currency, and, if the currency is valid, dispensing an equal value of coins. The coin dispensing portion of the apparatus includes a hopper which receives randomly oriented coins, an inclined rotating wheel for taking coins individually from the hopper to a discharge chute, a stop arrangement for holding the desired number of coins in the chute until the dispensing is called for, and a sensor for detecting when the coin chute is filled to stop the rotating feed disc.

United States Patent [1 1 Novak et a]. Sept. 4, 1973 CHANGE DISPENSINGAPPARATUS Primary ExaminerStanley H. Tollberg [75] Inventors: Frank A.Novak, Seven Hills; ".'?F PF" Q h dw w-.Oldham et Kenneth T. Schreiber,Bedford; Anthony H. Dolejs, Bedford Heights, all of Ohio [57] ABSTRACTAssignee: AI'dac/USA l' i Apparatus for accepting a piece of papercurrency, per- 5 Chesterland Ohm forming a validating operation on thecurrency, and, if [22] Filed; Sept 5 7 the currency is valid, dispensingan equal value of coins. The coin dispensing portion of the apparatusin- [21] PP 180,816 cludes a hopper which receives randomly orientedcoins, an inclined rotating wheel for taking coins indi- 52 us. Cl 194/40 viduhlly from the PP to a discharge chute step 51 int. Cl. G07f 7/04arrangement for holding the desired number of wins in [58] Field 0:Search 194/4 R, 4 c, 10; the chute until the dispensing is called for,and sens 133/8, 3 for detecting when the coin chute is filled to stopthe rotating feed disc.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11 Clam, 6 Draw F'gures3,173,431 3/1965 Chichester et a1. 133/8 R PATENTEDsu 4mm 3.756363 sum10F 4 I INVENTORS FRANK A. NOVAK BY KENNETH T. SCHREIBER ANTHONY H.DOLEJS ATTORNEYS PATENTED SEP 4 SHEET 2 OF 4 FRANK A. NOVAK KENNETH T.SCHREIBER ANTHONY H. DOLEJS ATTORNEYS mimosa 4am 3.756363 sum 3 a; 4

INVENTORS FRANK A. NOVAK KENNETH T. SCHREIBER BY ANTHONY H. DOLEJSATTORNEYS PATENTEDSEP 4mm 3.756363 SHEH & 0F 4 PAYO UT SOLENOID NOTEACCEPTOR FIG.6

27 VAC POWER SUPPLY INVENTORS FRANK A. NOVAK KENNETH T. SCHREIBER BYANTHONY H. DOLEJS ATTORNEYS CHANGE DISPENSING APPARATUS This applicationrelates to a change dispensing apparatus and more particularly toapparatus which will dispense a predetermined number of coins upondetection of a valid piece of paper currency, such as a dollar bill.

Various bill changer devices are known. However, these devices generallyrequire that the supply of coins be arranged in stacked columns, thusrequiring additional handling of the coins. Also, many of the prior billchanger devices are subject to jamming if a bent coin is encountered.

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide apparatuswhich will examine a piece of paper currency to determine itsauthenticity and, if the currency is valid, will dispense a number ofcoins equal in value to the currency unit.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a bill changerdevice which is capable of receiving a supply of coins in a randomlyoriented manner.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a billchanger device which employs a simple coin dispensing mechanism which isnot subject to jamming.

As will become apparent in the following detailed description, the aboveand other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a billchanging apparatus which includes a currency validating device, a coindispensing device having a hopper for receiving a supply of coins in arandomly oriented fashion, a coin discharge chute, an inclined rotatingwheel for moving individual ones of the coins from the hopper to adischarge chute, and a pair of movable stops adapted to enter into thechute to hold a selected number of coins until they are dispensed and,during the dispensing cycle, to prevent the passage of further coinsdown the chute.

For a more complete understanding of the invention and the objects andadvantages thereof reference should be had to the following detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings wherein there is shown apreferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bill changing apparatus of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the bill changing device, with therear plate removed for clarity;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 andshowing the coin pay out mechanism;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary sectional views taken along the lines 4-4and 5-5, respectively, of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic showing of the control circuit of the billchanging device of the present invention.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bill changing device, which isdesignated generally by the reference numeral 10, is housed within anenclosure 12. Mounted within the enclosure is a paper currencyvalidating device 14. One device which is suitable for this purpose isshown in US. Pat. No. 3,457,421, granted July 22, 1969 for PaperSecurity Validation Apparatus." The validating device 14 has either anopening or a movable tray 15 for receiving a single piece of papercurrency, such as a dollar bill, and the device 14 performs a test onthe piece of currency to determine the authenticity thereof. If thecurrency is authentic, the device 14 retains it and transmits a vendsignal. The coin dispensing mechanism 16 is also housed with theenclosure l2.

The coin dispensing mechanism, which will be described in more detailbelow, holds a supply of coins, for example, dimes, and when a vendsignal is received from the validating device 14 dispenses apredetermined number of coins through a pay out opening 18. Thevalidating device 14 and the coin dispensing mechanism 16 are under thecontrol of a control circuit 20.

The coin feed mechanism 16 is illustrated in greater detail in FIGS.2-4. A hopper 22 is provided for receiving a supply of coins. The hopperhas an opening 24 at its lower end and a coin feed mechanism 26 ispositioned immediately below this opening, the feed mechanism beingsupported by a plate 28. As will be seen from FIG. 2, the mounting plate28 is inclined. The coin feed mechanism 26 has a disc 30 which isprovided with a series of pins 32 at equal intervals near thecircumferance of the disc 30 and a central hub 34. An annular wall 36surrounds the disc 30 and supports a cover plate 38. The distancebetween the hub 34 and the surrounding annular wall 36 and the distancebetween adjacent ones of the pins 32 are each slightly greater than thediameter of the coin so that only one coin can be received in the areabetween adjacent pins 32. The disc 30 is affixed to a shaft 40 whichextends through suitable bushings 42 in the mounting plate 28 and isconnected to a driving motor 44 to rotate the disc in the directionindicated by the arrow in FIG. 3. The lower portion 46 of the disc 30 isaligned with the opening 24 of the hopper 22 and the cover plate 38 isalso provided with an opening in this region so that coins may pass fromthe hopper 22 onto the rotating disc 30, one coin being received betweeneach adjacent pair of pins 32. As the disc 30 is rotated the coins aremoved upwardly to the top portion 48 of the feed mechanism 28 where afinger 50 engages the coin to direct it off of the rotating disc 3 andinto a coin chute 52. As will be seen from FIG. 4, the finger 50projects inwardly toward the hub 34 but is spaced from the disc 30 so asto clear the pins 32. The coin chute 52 has a pair of side walls 56 and58 which are mounted to the support plate 28 and which extend downwardlyin parallel fashion to form an elongated channel 54. A cover plate 60 isprovided at the upper end of the walls 56 and 58. The lower end of thechute 52 terminates immediately above the coin pay out opening 18. Onewall 58 of the coin chute 52 has two spaced openings 62 and 64. A bar 66is pivotally mounted at its midpoint by a pin 68 and extends along theouter side of the wall 58, the ends of the bar being provided with pawls70 and 72 which are aligned, respectively, with the openings 62 and 64.A solenoid 74 is connected to the bar to lock the bar between the firstposition shown in solid outline in FIG. 3 where the pawl 72 projectsinto the channel 54 of the coin slot and to a second position shown indotted outline in FIG. 3 where the pawl 70 projects into the channel 54of the coin chute. The arrangement is such that either the pawl 70 orthe pawl 72 blocks passage of coins through the coin chute. It will benoted that the distance between the side walls 56 and 58 of the coinchute 54 is, preferably, only slightly greater than the diameter of thecoins to be dispensed while the distance between the support plate 28and the chute cover 60 is only slightly greater than the thickness ofthe coin to be dispensed so that coins are held in the chute 52 in asingle file order. The two pawls 70 and 72 are spaced apart from oneanother by a distance approximately equal to the sum of the diameters ofthe total number of coins which are to be dispensed at one time. Thus,if the apparatus is intended to dispense l dimes for a dollar the pawls70 and 72 will be located apart by a distance equal to times thediameter of a dime.

A coin detector is provided at the upper end of the chute 52 to preventoperation of the assembly when there are insufficient coins to makechange for the piece of paper currency. One form of the detector whichmay be used is illustrated in FIG. 5 where the light source 76 mountedin a housing 78 is supported by the plate 28 with the light beam beingdirected through an opening 80 in the support plate to the interior ofthe chute 52 and a photodetector 82 being mounted on the cover plate 60of the chute 52 and aligned with the opening 80.

As will become apparent below, the motor 44 operates only when no coinsare blocking the passage of light from the source 76 to thephotodetector 82. This control is effected by means of the circuit shownin FIG. 6. Assuming that there is a sufficient number of coins in thehopper 22 and that the rocker arm 66 is in the position shown in FIG. 3where the lower pawl 72 protrudes into the channel 54, upon acceptanceof a valid piece of currency by the note acceptor a vend signal will betransmitted from the acceptor 14 to the pay out solenoid 74 causing thesolenoid to operate shifting the rocker arm 66 to its opposite position.The coins within the channel 54 below the pawl 62 are now released tofall into the outlet hopper 18. After a sufficient length of time haselapsed to permit the coins to be discharged, the solenoid 74 againmoves to its original position. Coins are now free to travel down thechute to the pawl 72. The opening 80 will now be uncovered permittinglight from the lamp 76 to strike the photodetector 82 which, as is shownin FIG. 6, may consist of the phototranistor Q7. As a result, Q7 becomesconductive causing Q6 to also conduct bringing the base of transistor Q2to ground. This, in turn, causes the transistor Q3 to switch to aconductive state producing a signal through resistor R1], diode D6 andresistor R13 to the triac SCSl. SCSl now condusts energizing the motor44. Obviously, as individual coins move down the chute they willtemporarily interrupt the light path to the phototransistor Q7. In orderto prevent this pulsing action from affecting motor operation thecapacitor C4 is provided and serves to smooth the signal to the siliconecontrol rectifier SCSI. When Q3 conducts it also biases transistor Q4into a conductive state which furnishes a signal through the conductor86 to the note acceptor to prevent the acceptance of a second piece ofpaper currency until the vend cycle has been completed.

The conduction Q3 also provides a charging current for the capacitor C2across the resistor R8. When the capacitor C2 has charged to asufficient level the unijunction transistor Q5 will be biased on, inturn biasing on the silicone control rectifier SCRl and completing acircuit for the out-of-change lamp 84. Conduction of SCRl also serves toground the signal to SCRl through the diode D5 and SCRl so that SCRl isrendered nonconductive. It will be understood that the charging time ofcapacitor C2 is greater than the normal length of time required for thecoin feed mechanism 26 to supply sufficient coins to fill the chute 52.Thus, the out-ofchange light 84 will be energized and the motor 44stopped if operation of the motor extends beyond the set period of time,indicating that there are no more coins in the hopper 22. In this stateof events transistor Q3 remains conducting as is the transistor Q4 sothat an inhibit signal continues to be supplied to the note acceptor 14to prevent further operation of the device.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to adevice which disposes a number of coins equal in value to the value ofthe paper currency received, it should be understood that the device mayalso be used in connection with vending apparatus. Thus, for example, ifthe device of the present invention is to be used with vending apparatuswhich dispenses an article having a value of 60 cents, the currencyvalidation 14 can be designed to accept a dollar bill and the changedispensing mechanism 16 to dispense four dimes. The vend signal from thevalidator which actuates the solenoid 74 will also actuate the articledispensing apparatus.

While only the best known embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated and described in detail herein, the invention is not solimited thereto ot thereby. Reference should therefore be had to theappended claims in determining the true scope of the invention,

We claim:

1. A currency changing device, comprising:

means to determine the validity of a piece of paper currency;

a hopper for receiving a supply of coins and having an opening at itslower end;

a coin discharge chute the interior of which can receive and pass coins;

a coin feed mechanism for receiving coins from the hopper opening andtransferring coins one at a time to the discharge chute;

a pivotal rocker arm having a pawl at each end thereof operativelyengaged with the discharge chute to release a predetermined number ofcoins from the chute the pawls being of such size as to substantiallytraverse and block one dimension of the interior of the coin dischargechute when actuated and a control circuit responsive to the validitydetermining means to actuate the gate means upon receipt of a validpiece of currency.

2. The device according to claim 1 further including a drive motor forthe coin feed mechanism and a light source and an associated lightsensor positioned near the top of the coin discharge chute fordetermining when the number of coins in the chute exceeds thepredetermined number, the control circuit interfaced with the lightsensor so as to actuate the drive motor only when the number of coins inthe chute does not exceed the predetermined number.

3. The device according to claim 2 wherein the control circuit includesa time delay charging capacitor and a solid state circuit elementoperative to stop the motor after a predetermined time interval ofoperation.

4. The device according to claim 3 wherein the control circuit furtherincludes means to prevent operation of the validity determining meansuntil at least the predetermined number of coins have been supplied tothe chute.

5. The device according to claim 1 wherein the coin feed mechanismcomprises a disc mounted in an inclined position and rotatable about thecenter of the disc, the upper surface of the disc being provided with aplurality of coin receiving regions adjacent the periphery of the disc,the disc being positioned relative to the hopper opening so that coinspass through the opening into the lowermost of the coin receivingregions, means to rotate the disc, and means to direct coins from theuppermost portion of the disc to the discharge chute.

6. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the control circuit hasassociated therewith a smoothing capacitor operative to negate theeffects of any false signals created by the photo transistor due to thepassage of coins within the coins discharge chute.

7. The device according to claim 6 wherein the distance between thepawls is slightly greater than the sum of the diameters of thepredetermined number of coins.

8. Apparatus for accepting a piece of paper currency and dispensing anequal value of coins therefor, comprising:

a paper currency validating device for accepting the piece of currencyand determining the validity thereof, the device producing a signal uponacceptance of a valid piece of currency;

a supply hopper of receiving a quantity of coins;

a discharge chute;

a pair of pivotally movable stops adapted to enter substantially thefull width of the chute to prevent passage of coins therethrough, thestops being spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to the sumsof the diameters of the coins required to equal the value of the papercurrency;

means to move one or the other of the stops into the chute;

a coin feed mechanism for transferring coins one at a time from thesupply hopper to the discharge chute; and

control means responsive to the signal from the validity device toactuate the stop moving means to release the coins between the twostops.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the coin feed mechanismcomprises an inclined rotating disc having a plurality of coin receivingregions on its upper surface and positioned to receive coins from thesupply hopper and transfer the same to the chute and a drive motor forthe disc, the apparatus also including means to detect the presence of acoin in the chute above the upper stop and additional control meansresponsive to the detecting means to operate the motor only when no coinis detected by the detecting means.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the additional control meansincludes a time delay resistorcapacitor circuit controlling a solidstate switching element to prevent operation of the motor beyond apredetermined time period.

1 1. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the additional control meansincludes means to prevent operation of the validating device except whensufficient coins are available, as determined by the detecting means.

2. The device according to claim 1 further including a drive motor forthe coin feed mechanism and a light source and an associated lightsensor positioned near the top of the coin discharge chute fordetermining when the number of coins in the chute exceeds thepredetermined number, the control circuit interfaced with the lightsensor so as to actuate the drive motor only when the number of coins inthe chute does not exceed the predetermined number.
 3. The deviceaccording to claim 2 wherein the control circuit includes a time delaycharging capacitor and a solid state circuit element operative to stopthe motor after a predetermined time interval of operation.
 4. Thedevice according to claim 3 wherein the control circuit further includesmeans to prevent operation of the validity determining means until atleast the predetermined number of coins have been supplied to the chute.5. The device according to claim 1 wherein the coin feed mechanismcomprises a disc mounted in an inclined position and rotatable about thecenter of the disc, the upper surface of the disc being provided with aplurality of coin receiving regions adjacent the periphery of the disc,the disc being positioned relative to the hopper opening so that coinspass through the opening into the lowermost of the coin receivingregions, means to rotate the disc, and means to direct coins from theuppermost portion of the disc to the discharge chute.
 6. Apparatusaccording to claim 2 wherein the control circuit has associatedtherewith a smoothing capacitor operative to negate the effects of anyfalse signals created by the photo transistor due to the passage ofcoins within the coins discharge chute.
 7. The device according to claim6 wherein the distance between the pawls is slightly greater than thesum of the diameters of the predetermined number of coins.
 8. Apparatusfor accepting a piece of paper currency and dispensing an equal value ofcoins therefor, comprising: a paper currency validating device foraccepting the piece of currency and determining the validity thereof,the device producing a signal upon acceptance of a valid piece ofcurrency; a supply hopper of receiving a quantity of coins; a dischargechute; a pair of pivotally movable stops adapted to enter substantiallythe full width of the chute to prevEnt passage of coins therethrough,the stops being spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to thesums of the diameters of the coins required to equal the value of thepaper currency; means to move one or the other of the stops into thechute; a coin feed mechanism for transferring coins one at a time fromthe supply hopper to the discharge chute; and control means responsiveto the signal from the validity device to actuate the stop moving meansto release the coins between the two stops.
 9. Apparatus according toclaim 8 wherein the coin feed mechanism comprises an inclined rotatingdisc having a plurality of coin receiving regions on its upper surfaceand positioned to receive coins from the supply hopper and transfer thesame to the chute and a drive motor for the disc, the apparatus alsoincluding means to detect the presence of a coin in the chute above theupper stop and additional control means responsive to the detectingmeans to operate the motor only when no coin is detected by thedetecting means.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein theadditional control means includes a time delay resistor-capacitorcircuit controlling a solid state switching element to prevent operationof the motor beyond a predetermined time period.
 11. Apparatus accordingto claim 9 wherein the additional control means includes means toprevent operation of the validating device except when sufficient coinsare available, as determined by the detecting means.